Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Oh. My. Goodness. While there have been some flops for me in Dorie's book, there are two things that she really gets: fruitdesserts and scones. And these apple cheddar scones were fabulous. It was sheer torture smelling them baking in the morning. You know that smell of cheese just frying into little crispy bits? Yeah, that's how it smelled. And I couldn't have them quite yet because I was counting on cracking into my danish braids when I brought them into work in the morning - I can only handle so much butter in one day people!

I did make one substitution in the recipe. It calls for buttermilk, but I can never find it in small containers, so I went with plain whole milk yogurt. There're just so many things in my baking repertoire that call for buttermilk. I also did my standard butter addition method of grating the butter and just tossing it with the other ingredients. It just makes for less heat added to the overall end product. Mixing them up was tricky though. When she says the dough is sticky, DEAR LORD STICKY MESS. *ahem* Thank goodness the boyfriend was willing to clean up after me :) They froze easily, and I left them in the freezer for 4 days before baking them up Monday morning. Even with the extended chill time, they rose and browned beautifully.

Would I make these again? In a heartbeat. But with some changes - I might try some without any apple, some with freshly grated apple, and some with chunks of cheddar and apple for some textural contrast. Any way they're made though, I'm glad I don't have to worry. Dorie has scones down. Thanks Karina (of The Floured Apron) for picking this recipe!

I'm jealous that your boyfriend is willing to clean up for you. My husband probably would, but I get impatient waiting for him to get around to it, and end up doing it myself. I like the chunks of cheddar idea. I'm thinking of trying some different cheese, maybe gouda.

lookin' good. i always used dried buttermilk now because i used to buy a big thing of it and just waste the rest. all you do is add it to your dry ingredients and then add extra water to the liquids. maybe you could try that. :):)

Someone else suggested bacon and cheese. Mmmm. Do you know the soured milk trick to sub for buttermilk? Use 1 T. vinegar and add milk to make one cup. Let it sit for about five minutes then use it as you would buttermilk.

Funny thing, I bake over at my mother's house, since she has more room and a stand mixer (for the cookies I usually bake at the same time.) At the end of the evening, my brother says "You're taking the smell with you, right? 'Cause otherwise, this is gonna be torture!" Fortunately I left him enough to make it all easier to bear.